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ATLANTA — Porsche has announced plans to relocate its North American headquarters to the south side of Atlanta. While the company will not be moving very far — it is currently headquartered in the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs — the move has huge implications for the luxury automakers new neighborhood. Porsche plans to relocate to the site of the former Ford assembly plant, located in Hapeville near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — not too far away from its existing Logistics Services Center. According to local reports, the company's new build-to-suit headquarters will include a 150,000-square-foot office tower as well as a 1.6-mile test track — a layout similar to the company's Silverstone facility in England. The reports go on to say the campus will include a classic Porsche restoration shop and a fine dining restaurant. Construction on the project will begin later this year and be complete by the summer 2013. The new facility will kick off the development of Aerotropolis, locally based Jacoby Group's redevelopment of the former Ford plant, which shuttered in 2006. Jacoby purchased the 122-acre property in 2008 for $40.3 million and unveiled its plans for the sprawling development, which would contain 6.5 million square …

LA JOLLA, CALIF. — McCarthy has begun construction for a $456 million project on the La Jolla campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital. The Scripps Cardiovascular Institute will be located at 9888 Genesee Ave. and is the first of three new towers planned for the hospital campus as part of its 25-year master plan. The towers will eventually replace the existing hospital. The Scripps Institute will feature 10 levels of patient care including 60 ICU beds on two levels, 108 patient beds on three medical surgery levels, six operating rooms, four CATH/EP labs, a sterile processing department and an imaging department. A tunnel will be constructed to connect the new building's basement with the existing hospital. The new facility will feature several sustainable design elements. Large expanses of windows will increase the amount of ambient natural light. Water- and energy-saving building systems will be installed. In addition, the building will feature elements to increase patient comfort an care including decentralized nurse stations, a decentralized medication dispensing process and patient rooms with wireless Internet access, LCD televisions and pullout couches. Completion for the project is slated for January 2015, with the institute opening that April. Jacobs Engineering Group is serving as construction …

BLOOMINGTON, MINN. — A $137.5 million construction loan has been secured for a new hotel at the Mall of America in Bloomington. Minneapolis-based hospitality company Carlson Hotels will partner with the Minneapolis office of construction giant Mortenson to construct the 500-room Radisson Blu Hotel on the mall's south side. The project's complicated financing package, which was arranged by Dougherty Funding, consists of public and private sources. The City of Bloomington is providing general obligation bonds. Other bond financing includes those from the Recovery Zone Facility, tax-exempt private activity bonds created by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Mortgage secured notes are being provided by trade pension funds and community banks. Other financing sources include a Mall of America skywalk contribution and developer equity. Now that construction financing has been secured, the project will break ground on May 26. The hotel will be located between Macy's and Bloomingdale's, and it will connect to the mall via skyway. Mortenson is serving as developer and general contractor. Carlson Hotels will manage the property upon its completion, which is expected in March 2013. “We are excited about this landmark Radisson Blu development, which is another key milestone for our Ambition 2015 growth plan …

RENO, NEV. — Nevada-based companies Dermody Properties and United Construction Co. have finalized an agreement with Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters Inc. to build the retailer's new Western United States Internet Fulfillment Center. The approximately $60 million project will be located within Dermody's Silver Lake Business Park in Reno. The joint venture will construct the facility on 38.34 acres at 12055 Moya Blvd. Phase I of the project will include a 462,720-square-foot facility that will feature more than 450,000 square feet of warehouse space as well as office space and a data center. The official groundbreaking will be held June 8. The building envelope will be complete by November, and the facility will be complete by June 2012. The project has been designed to meet LEED-Silver certification. A planned second phase would expand the facility to 895,360 square feet. “The building design reflects Urban Outfitters' cutting-edge culture and features an architectural look and feel not seen locally before,” said Craig Willcut, president and CEO of United Construction, in a statement. “The unique structure of a development company and construction company partnership brings multiple layers of benefits to the customer,” added John Atwell, Dermody Properties' COO. “Because the developer and the contractor are …

SAN ANTONIO AND OAK BROOK, ILL. — San Antonio-based USAA Estate Co. has sold its Single Tenant Net Lease Retail Portfolio to Oak Brook-based The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies for an undisclosed amount. The portfolio consists of 16 properties totaling 118,046 square feet. The properties are located in 15 markets throughout the U.S. including Orlando, Pensacola, Port St. Lucie and Tampa Fla.; Atlanta; Minneapolis; St. Louis; Charlotte, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; Columbia, S.C.; Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, Texas; and Milwaukee. The tenant list for the properties includes AT&T, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, CVS/pharmacy, Verizon and Walgreens. John Hammill and Ken Shulman of Dallas-based Capview Partners represented USAA in the deal. Inland did not utilize outside representation. “These assets have been outstanding investments for our company during our holding period and should represent an excellent investment for Inland,” said Pat Duncan, chairman and CEO of USAA, in a statement. — Coleman Wood

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — Port Washington-based retail REIT Cedar Shopping Centers has entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of its Ohio assets for $45 million. The buyer is Canton, Ohio-based Nickleplate Realty Trust. Cedar entered into the sale as a way to divest itself of smaller properties in secondary markets. Seventeen properties ranging in size from 3,200 square feet to 57,689 square feet were included in the sale. Fourteen of the centers are anchored by Discount Drug Market. Two properties are anchored by First Merit Bank, and the remaining property is anchored by Levin Furniture. The portfolio totals 690,715 square feet. According to a press release, two of the properties have already closed. However, their names were not disclosed. The remaining properties will close by the third quarter of this year. Once the transaction is complete, Cedar will only own three properties in the state: two CVS/pharmacy locations in Akron and Celina, and a Rite Aid located in Massillon. Cedar plans to use the proceeds from the sale to pay down the approximately $30 million in debt remaining on the properties. In a statement, Cedar Chairman and CEO Leo Ullman said that the REIT's acquisition strategy moving forward …

GAITHERBURG, MD. — CB Richard Ellis Investors has purchased One Washingtonian Center from LaSalle Investment Management for an undisclosed amount. The property is a 315,929-square-foot office building located in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Gaithersburg. The property's anchor tenant is Sodexo Inc., which occupies over half of the space as its North American headquarters. According to additional reports, the property was approximately 85 percent occupied at the time of the sale. The building recently Platinum-certified through the LEED for Existing Buildings program. it benefits from a prime location within Washingtonian Center, an 800,000-square-foot lifestyle center. It is also situated directly off of Interstate 270. The Cassidy Turley team of Paul Collins, Drew Flood, James Cassidy and Jud Ryan represented LaSalle in the deal. — Coleman Wood

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council has approved plans for The Vermont, a new high-rise apartment project that will be located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. This finals approval follow last week's unanimous approval from the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency. The Vermont will be developed by J.H. Snyder Co. on two acres. Construction will include two towers that will be 22 and 28 stories tall. The project will contain a total of 464 residents as well as 41,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space that will be occupied by restaurants, a grocer, a bank, a dry cleaners and a coffee house. Community amenities will include underground parking, a full-service concierge, lounge-style workspace, a swimming pool, a fitness center and a spa. The two buildings will surround a quarter-acre central courtyard, and the project will contain 12,000 square feet of public open space along Wilshire Boulevard. Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year, and the building will be complete by 2013. The Vermont will be seeking LEED-Silver certification. As part of the project, J.H. Snyder will also be partnering with the community to construct 96 affordable housing …